Enewsletter

Notes from Vegan
Outreach

Yowza!

Vegan
Outreach activists have now reported
directly reaching more
than 5,000,000 individuals
since we started tracking campus
and off-campus leafleting totals
in the fall of 2003.

Special congratulation to VO's
top all-time leafleter, Jon "The
Man, The Myth, The Legend"
Camp (right), who has personally
reached over
500,000 people with
the animals' plight and the compassionate
alternative!!

All for Team Vegan, Team Vegan
for All!

After
a month of training, Team
Vegan is over a third
of the way to the $75,000 matching
goal! Thanks so much to everyone
who is taking part and who has supported
a runner (or the
team in general).

Note: Team Vegan is run by Vegan
Outreach, so not only is your donation
doubled dollar-for-dollar,
no fees are taken out of your contribution
for a management consultant or by
the donation website. Please support
a runner,
or the entire
team -- it will help
us provide more booklets to activists
who need them!

Notes from Our Members

Eileen
Botti encourages students at
SUNY Stony Brook to take a stand
for the animals.

CUNY John Jay was amazing
-- Sean Diener and I handed out
over 1,200 booklets in just a few
hours. A few of the highlights:
"I
just wanted you to know that that
pamphlet made me go vegetarian last
time you were here."
"Girl,
you're gonna make me wanna go vegetarian
with this!"
(One
student to her friend) "Oh
yeah I got that -- I think I'm going
vegetarian!"
Yesterday
at CUNY Queens College, I met one
vegetarian who took a Guide
and a few extra leaflets for her
neighbors. I also met other students
who were genuinely interested in
going vegan and also took Guides.
One of those students said, "I
saw some of this info online and
tried some vegan food, but after
you handed me this and I read it
in class, I am so much more motivated
again. I like that you don't make
it an all-or-nothing approach."
We talked about soy cheese and good
vegan food -- I'm pretty confident
that she's going to give veganism
a shot!-Eileen Botti, 5/6/09

Last night,
one person at the vegan meetup told
me she has a friend who she has
been trying to get to go vegetarian
for many years. However, despite
all her efforts, and all the information
she has presented, she had absolutely
no influence on her friend. But
her friend recently ran into me
while I was leafleting, and I gave
her a VO booklet. As a result, her
friend has now made the decision
to go vegetarian.
Another
person at meetup told me that the
reason she changed from being a
meat eater to being a vegan is because
of the VO booklet. She had already
seen the videos, but she didn't
make the switch until she saw the
booklet, which made her go from
meat eater to vegan overnight. She
has now been vegan for two years.-Eugene Khutoryansky,
5/10/09

Leafleting the Portland
Saturday Market was
a great experience. I can't even
remember how many times I heard,
"Awww" and "Ewww."
Girls were huddled around reading
the booklets together. Highlights:
One
girl declined a Compassionate
Choices and then turned to
her friend and said, "I got
one of those at school. It was really
sad."
Another
girl took a booklet and said, "This
is why I'm vegetarian! This stuff
is real!" She was excited to
receive a Compassionate Choices
and a Guide. I watched
her walk across the road, holding
up the booklets with pride.
After
taking a booklet, one woman tried
giving it to the guy she was with.
He wouldn't take it, so she decided
to open it. She stopped walking
and just stood there looking down
at the booklet in disbelief. "This
is horrible," she said to her
friends.-Jessica Dadds, 5/13/09

I recently took an
adult education class
at a neighborhood high school and
was given the opportunity to talk
about factory farming. Everyone
seemed horrified. So, the next week,
I brought my Vegan Outreach materials
and distributed brochures to everyone.
Some people asked me for multiple
copies to share with friends and
family members, as well as coworkers.
I explained how each one of them
can help animals simply by making
a change in what they eat. After
I distributed the brochures, I noticed
everyone taking some time to read
them. A few people asked me where
to shop in the neighborhood so that
they could explore non-animal diets.
The brochures generated a lot of
discussion and thought, and questions
about how to avoid contributing
to animal suffering.-EK, 5/7/09

A Dowling College student is
shocked by the truth revealed
to him by Jennifer Greene.

Fantastic day of outreach
at Diablo Valley College.
During the second class change I
met Niccola, a new vegetarian who
asked me what he could do to help.
He had some time and was able to
leaflet on the spot. Super outgoing
guy and did a great job. He ran
into his friend Jim from the Army
and convinced Jim to help out also.
Both radiated confidence and genuine
friendliness.
I
met two different guys who once
again reminded me how important
this work is. The first guy I met
only a few minutes into leafleting.
He said he had gotten a leaflet
before and hadn’t eaten meat for
a while. He had fallen off the wagon
and was glad to receive another
leaflet and Guide. He told
me that “this just runs so deep”
and can’t be ignored, despite how
difficult it may be to change. I
told him that’s what compelled me
to be out leafleting; he gave me
a hearty handshake and was on his
way.
The
second gentleman I encountered later
in the day. He explained that he
knew what was happening to farmed
animals was horrible, but that he
was so used to eating meat. I told
him that we live in a culture of
eating meat and that we each have
to find our path in how we choose
to respond to the dilemma of culture
vs. cruelty. I told him my own personal
story and he seemed really moved.
I also told him that if he could
go veg for three months, he could
do it for life. He took a Guide
and also gave me a hearty handshake.
-Brian Grupe, 5/13/09

Vegan
Outreach is a 501(c)(3)
nonprofit organization dedicated
to reducing the suffering
of farmed animals by promoting
informed, ethical eating.